Kenyatta speech to G7 meeting: Stop dictating positions to Africa but listen to the continent's needs

After the speech US President Donald Trump assured his support to the G7’s resolutions on Africa and Italian Prime Minister Gentiloni called for dialogue with Africa.

Kenyatta speech to G7 meeting: Stop dictating positions to Africa but listen to the continent's needs

After the speech US President Donald Trump assured his support to the G7’s resolutions on Africa and Italian Prime Minister Gentiloni called for dialogue with Africa.

28 May 2017 Sunday 13:08

By Azania Post Reporter

The Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has delivered a powerful speech at the G7 summit in Taormina Italy attended by world leaders including US President Donald Trump.

Kenyatta’s speech attracted a global attention centred on the need for industrialised countries to stop dictating positions to Africa but listen to the continent's needs.

After the speech US President Donald Trump assured his support to the G7’s resolutions on Africa and Italian Prime Minister Gentiloni called for dialogue with Africa.

In his speech, Kenyatta said Africa will have business opportunities worth $5.6 trillion by 2025 with the rising tide which brings a new national and transnational infrastructure.

“Africa will have a better-educated labour force; a youthful, dynamic population; a diffusion of technology; and, most important, the true democratization of the continent,” he said.

Kenyatta added: “We now see the emergence of business clusters that stimulate innovation,the creation of new businesses, and real growth. That’s why our returns on investment are some of the highest in the world, and that’s why members of the G7 will find, as others have found, that African markets are well worth their interest.”

Indeed, right across the continent, opportunities beckon. To seize them, we will have to work together. The rewards are beyond calculation. A freer, more prosperous Africa is a more secure Africa. A freer, more prosperous Africa is a vital partner in solving some of the world’s most pressing problems: poverty, immigration, climate change, terrorism, he observed.

President Kenyatta has further said: “This, Ladies and Gentlemen, is the time to put Africa’s aspirations at the heart of your plans. Now, the continent’s transformation is contingent on innovation. That’s why we have strengthened connectivity through the Smart Africa initiative, putting ICT at the center of our development agenda.”

He also said that Kenya is a celebrated pioneer in ICT innovation in Africa. “We have seen for ourselves the transformative power of innovation,as the Internet and mobile telephony have diffused power to networks and individuals. Our people have proven enthusiastic innovators, enriching our democracy and development.”

He noted: “In turn, the world has learned to appreciate to the energy and innovation of our young people, the spear-point of our development strategy. That energy and innovation, combined with a strong ICT backbone, with infrastructure and with an open regulatory and policy environment, has unleashed creative solutions, transforming lives.”

The Kenyan President said that Africa’s success will enlarge liberty; it will push back extremists bent on destroying democracy; and it will give many millions of our people an even larger stake in a stable global order.

“Naturally, that success will depend largely on our own efforts, but the partnership and solidarity of the G-7 countries remain invaluable. That, is the power and promise of innovation and cooperation across borders,” he said.

….But we must also consider recent painful events in Manchester, which reminds us that innovation and globalization have a dark side. Far cheaper communication, and the movement of peoples across the world have given terrorists an ideological and operational reach that was unimaginable until very recently, he said.

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